This invention relates generally to point-of-sale (POS) equipment and, in particular to cash drawers used for storing coins, currency, checks, receipts and the like involved in a retail sales transaction.
Point of Sale (POS) equipment has existed since at least the late 1800s when the first mechanical cash register was introduced. The mechanical cash register was a breakthrough in its day because not only did it correctly add-up the total for individual transactions during the day, it also kept a running tally of the transactions, which to enabled the merchant to reconcile the transactions with the receipts in the cash drawer. In the 1970s, introduction of the barcode scanner and universal product code (UPC) along with the general purpose computer enabled merchants to process transactions more efficiently and more accurately, as well as enabling them to track inventory more accurately.
Dedicated POS systems are robust and powerful, however, for many small businesses they are simply too costly and too bulky. Consequently, for many small and even medium-sized businesses, dedicated POS systems are giving way to tablet-based mobile POS systems. In a tablet-based mobile POS system, a tablet computer such as an Apple® iPad® is equipped with a card-swipe device, credit card chip-reading device or similar interface to receive credit card information from the purchaser. When a purchase is made, the customer's credit card information is received and transmitted to the payment processor where the transaction is approved and the credit card charged. A receipt printer, which may be connected wirelessly or via Ethernet cable to the tablet computer, then prints the receipt for the customer.
Despite the convenience of credit card transactions, many consumers still prefer to make purchases with cash or check. Consequently, the need remains for a cash drawer to hold coins, paper currency, checks and the like in a tablet-based mobile POS environment. In a mobile POS environment, however, there is no dedicated cashier's station. Consequently, the cash drawer is often simply placed on a table, usually with a security cable attached to prevent theft. Prior art cash drawers have always been arranged with the coin bins along the front edge and the currency bins behind. This presents no problem if the cash drawer is permanently installed in a cashier's station or is integrated into a traditional heavy cash register, but if the cash drawer is simply placed on a table, the heavy coins in front will cause the cash drawer to tip forward when the drawer extends out of the housing. Consequently, some prior art POS cash drawers include heavy counterweights behind the paper currency bins to offset the anticipated weight of the coins in the coin bins, so that the cash drawer does not tip forward when opened. Not only does this solution add unnecessary weight to the cash drawer, it also adds additional volume necessary to accommodate the counterweights.
What is needed, and what the prior art does not provide therefore, is a compact cash drawer in which the coin bins and the paper currency bins are arranged in a unique manner so that the drawer is balanced when open and therefore does not require counterweights to prevent the drawer from tipping forward when opened.